In 2024, the number of civilians killed or injured as a result of Russian aggression in Ukraine increased by almost 30% against the previous year.
This was reported by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo stated this at a Thursday’s meeting of the Security Council.
“The increase in casualties among children is particularly distressing,” the official noted.
“More children were killed or injured in the first three quarters of 2024 than in all of 2023. According to OCHR, between February 2022, and 31 December 2024, at least 12,456 civilians including 669 children were killed; 28,382 civilians including 1,833 children have been injured,” DiCarlo said.
In the first nine months of last year alone, more than 580 educational and medical facilities were damaged or destroyed.
“I want to reiterate that we unconditionally condemn all attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure,” the Under-Secretary-General emphasized.
She added that, since the full-scale invasion, 10 humanitarian workers have been killed and 41 injured in the line of duty.
“There are reports that military personnel from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were captured in the Kursk Region of the Russian Federation. The reported involvement of the DPRK troops in fighting alongside Russian forces continues to raise serious concerns regarding further internationalization of this already dangerous conflict,” DiCarlo emphasized.
According to the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Ukraine for 2025, released on Thursday, some 12.7 million people require humanitarian support, she added.
DiCarlo pointed to “the plight of the many 1000s of Ukrainian civilians living in territories of Ukraine currently occupied by the Russian Federation”. According to the official, the needs of the residents of these areas are assessed as severe and worsened by extremely limited humanitarian access.
The Under-Secretary-General drew attention to the intensification of Russia’s systematic targeting of Ukrainian energy infrastructure. “The UN continues to work with the government of Ukraine to restore energy generation capacity while creating opportunities in the green energy sector,” she noted.
DiCarlo once again expressed concern over reports of executions of Ukrainian prisoners by Russian forces. The December OHCHR report cited at least 19 incidents since August involving the killing of 62 individuals.
“OHCHR also found that the Russian Federation has used widespread and systematic torture against Ukrainian prisoners of war,” the UN Under-Secretary-General said, adding that individual cases involving Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine are being investigated by the authorities.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the UN Security Council met on Thursday to discuss the situation in Ukraine in connection with the Russian war.
Source: UNSC: Civilian casualty toll in Ukraine up by third in 2024
